Duxxy, right when I saw her in that Prince skit, my first reaction was that Maya was pregnant, too. She is very slim typically and from the side, she definitely had a tummy, and wasn't heavy anywhere else.

Just when you think SNL can't possibly get any worse, it does. Last night was horrible. This has to be one of the worst casts ever. They've ruined one of the only funny things they had left, Weekend Update, and they need to fire Finesse Mitchel immediatley. Why is he even allowed in the building? His skit on Weekend Update was awful. Didn't laugh once.

(Maya has to be pregnant. That wasn't just a tummy, that was a huge bulge for such a small girl. Is she married?)

The episode, i thought was written well, as it made some valid points, just wasn't funny. It didn't help that the crowd wasn't into it at all.
and with the martha stewart thing...they had the same same jail house bitch routine last year with Maya as Diana Ross and Finesse as her roommate. So, when you redo the exact bit at the exact same time..i cannot justify that.
and with Maya's pregnancy, that's what they said last year when she did the prince show...

10/23 Jude Law

Episode III: Jude Law and Ashlee Simpson

Cold Opening: Hardball

Finally, it’s good to see something than a presidential debate. Usual Hardball stuff, which is always good. They talk about how Kerry’s catching up in the polls. Lots of Mary Chaney jokes. This was just….really good. Probably a sketch of the year nominee and cold opening of the year front runner.

Jude Law…who looks a little bit like Gavin Rossdale from Bush…but I have no idea who he is, and I can really care less. He talks about his career, and then sings about how perfect he is. The girls come in as backup singers. Ashlee Simpson comes out for a second…it was…not that good, but got better at the end when they sang Hey Jude…

Actors: Maya, Amy, Tina, Rachael
Best Line: --
Rating: 5

DreamScape Studios:

I think this is a spoof of Sky Captain…good thing I didn’t see that movie. Amy and Jude are acting in front of the green screen, with comedic results. Nothing really much to this, they could have probably put this later. Nothing special, but funny nonetheless.

Actors: Amy, Seth, Rachael, Will
Best Line: Law: I’m not sure why I would bite a fireball.
Rating: 6

Commercial: Dyson Toilet

Spoof of the vacuum commercial. Accurate, but not funny. .

Actors: Fred
Rating: C

Next Week: Kate Winslet /Eminem

Presidential Debate:

And this kills any sort of momentum this had going. They rehash the same things they did the past two weeks. . . and this keeps going and going and going…and not in that good way either. That was long and boring and painful. Maybe they were a sketch short on that Prime Time Presidential thing they’re doing….

Actors: Parnell, Will, Seth
Best Line: --
Rating: 3

Paris Hilton Apologizes for using the N word:

Maya is Paris, Jude is her sister Nicki/y. Basically, Paris names off random black people and Nicky/I keeps going “oh that’s hot” Not that bad, but not that good either. Averager.

Actors Maya, Rachael
Best Line:
Rating: 5

Musical Performance 1:

Not only do I think she’s not attractive. …oh yeah, about the performance. BOO! How sad. They play the song over everything for the first five seconds so she can find what key she’s supposed to be in.

Weekend Update:

I’m sorry, but I’m not buying this. There is no real Chemistry and seems like a shoddy production of Spy Glass.
Example: Tina’s opening joke bombs, she tosses it to Amy and Amy’s laughing…just not good
Horatio comes out as Babe Ruth and talks about how he forgot to curse the Red Sox game 4-7. Horatio fails to keep character..and Jimmy’s not even there. The only funny thing was when he goes “wait, I’m left handed” and switches the bat. Other than that, the interaction seemed forced and they don’t really look at each other when they do try to interact. Still not good, and I don’t think it’ll get better.

Actors: Tina, Amy, Horatio, Rachael
Best Line: --
Rating: 4

C-Span: Bush and Blair talk

Oh good, they didn’t even need to change the set from the last miserable sketch. They talk about the war in Iraq, and it falls back to the same Bush-isms he did last sketch. Bush and Blair have some good interaction where Bush would let Blair answer the questions….it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good.

Actors: Forte, Riggle, Amy
Best Line: Forte: His name’s Tony Blair, President of England. I call him T-Bo
Rating: 5

Apprentice Halloween Commercial

Trump tries to do a commercial for the Apprentice with a Halloween theme, and then takes credit for other people’s ideas…this wasn’t bad. More of a filler sketch, went kind of long, but wasn’t that bad.

Actors: Hammond, Myers
Best Line: Hammond: One.
Rating: 6

Jane Eyre

They do some scenes of Jane Eyre, where Jane goes “I’m plain” and he has sex with his “wife.” Meh.

Actors: Rachael, Maya
Best Line: --
Rating: 4

Performance 2:

That has to be the best thing that has EVER happened on SNL.
The audio guy cues up the pre-fed vocals way too soon and the band plays the same song as last time…and she walks off stage and the band just plays until they cut out early…great!

BEST PERFORMANCE EVER!

Bear City

A short film about what life about a city of bears…and how they do normal things. Boo.

Rating: D-

The Adventures of Peter O Toole and Michael Caine

They go into Taco Bell, and they think they’re hosting a talk show. This, I can only assume was tossed in after the last fiasco because the crowd wasn’t really into it. Not good at all, but a point because it wasn’t a presidential debate.

Closing Credits:
I give Ashlee credit. Most people would be in their dressing room, doors locked, crying their eyes out, but she took it in stride. . . and is that Finesse in the background? 2 shows with a DNP. Sad.

Overall Thoughts: This show started off real strong, then crapped out something fierce. Weekend Update, I’m beginning to think, will always be crappy, and the debates kill all the momentum they have going for it. However, this show will be remembered for the hardball and the 2nd musical performance.

That has to be the best thing that has EVER happened on SNL.
The audio guy cues up the pre-fed vocals way too soon and the band plays the same song as last time…and she walks off stage and the band just plays until they cut out early…great!

BEST PERFORMANCE EVER!

Thank you for the recap!! I tuned in late, but in time to see that performance and was like... what the ! just happened?? Was she on stage for like 30 seconds or less?? The band played maybe for a minute? So bizarre. Thought I had imagined it.

I suppose that just like with any other show, unless or until you connect with the characters, the show isn't captivating.

I lost my strong attraction to SNL years ago, and when MadTV came along I decided it was superior to SNL in most aspects. Now I tune in to SNL sometimes after MadTV is over, but there is seldom anything that I find remotely funny.

Yesterday they had a skit based loosely (or skankily) on Jane Eyre, and it was the kind of non-funny crud I always seem to tune in just in time to witness when I see a bit of SNL.

Is it just that I'm out of the loop and unaclimated to its wavelength, or is much of SNL simply not humorous?

Re: the second musical performance last night
I got the feeling some tech person accidentally cued up the same song she had already sung and ended up totally busting Ashlee for lipsynching. The vocals came on and she wasn't singing.

I thought the only good thing about the Michael Caine, Peter O'toole skit was Jude's impression of O'Toole. It was really good. Seth, on the other hand, was terrible as Michael Caine.